Tehran mayor calls on students to join ‘car-free Tuesdays’ campaign

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TEHRAN – Pirouz Hanachi, the mayor of Tehran, has called on students to join him on ‘car-free Tuesdays’ campaign, ISNA reported on Tuesday.

‘Car-free Tuesdays’ campaign aiming to decrease the number of private cars in the cities hence mitigate air pollution, kicked off in 2016 by Mohammad Bakhtiari, majored in architecture and a member of a local NGO with 1,000 members known as “the guardians of the environment of Arak city”.

After over 180 weeks on Tuesday, the campaign seemed to be losing momentum most probably because of the inefficient infrastructure in the country, as such movements towards cleaner transport options entail appropriate infrastructure such as bike lanes to ensure safety improvements and higher ridership numbers, as well as efficient, low emission public transport.

Since beginning his career on December 2 as mayor of Tehran, Hanachi joined the campaign riding bicycle or taking subway to work, trying to revive the campaign impact on Tehrani citizens.

This week, he rode to work accompanying by Tehran City Council members, University of Tehran officials, and Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization deputy director Mohammad-Hassan Talebian.

Referring to the capital’s inefficient infrastructure as well as lack of bike lanes to ensure ridership safety, Hanachi stated that we have chosen safe paths for biking throughout the city, while determining to provide appropriate infrastructure in case of higher ridership numbers.

Inquiring about the bikes being expensive, he noted that while normal bikes cost about 20 million rials (about $500), it is possible to provide bikes at cheaper prices for the residents, or requesting the bicycle manufacturers to sell the bikes by installment.

He further called on the university students especially those in University of Tehran to attend the campaign heading to university by bike on Tuesdays.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he pointed to expanding metro capacity for encouraging people not to use private cars, he said that some 600 metro cars are planned to be purchased.